Milan teens in Ryanair adventure

A group of 30 teenagers from Milan suburb of Magenta suffered a four-day adventure when low-cost carrier Ryanair left them stranded in the UK last weekend.

At the end of a two-week study holiday in Britain, they were scheduled to fly home on 26 July from Stanstead airport, but things started to go wrong. After a two-hour wait on board, they were told that staff shortages meant they could not fly, and they were offered hotel beds for the night.

But things went from bad to worse the next day. Again, after a two-hour wait, they were disembarked – and this time, say media reports, they were not offered any hospitality or other help, and had to spend the night in the airport. Moreover, they weren’t able to access their baggage until dawn the next day.

At this point, their irate parents stepped in and chartered three Mercedes people-carriers, which set out for the Channel Tunnel and the road home. Exhausted but relieved, the group arrived back in Magenta, some 30 km west of the city, on the afternoon of 29 July.

Ryanair was recently reported as stating they were offering no compensation for bumped passengers during this ongoing strike period, since they had done their best to avoid industrial action. But it is as yet unclear whether the EU authorities will allow that refusal to stand. In this particular case the airline has offered no further comment, except to tell media that they were sorry for what had happened, and that lightning strikes were also to blame.